The Demon Hunter was considered for the Burning Crusade, but the team wasn't ready to add another class to the game at that point.

Distinguishing the Demon Hunter from Monks and Rogues will be important. Rogues are about stealth and crowd control, whereas the Demon Hunter is about in your face mobility and getting out when they are in trouble. Monks are a little more of a hybrid, with some self healing.

The Eye Beam for Demon Hunter is a skillshot, as it is a narrow cone attack.

Dalaran has some modifications for the storyline, changes to the center area, changes to the Underbelly, as well as updated textures.

The current plan is for Dalaran is to have a free for all PvP area in the Underbelly. You can bribe the guards to make them go away for a while.

It would be hard to eliminate existing talent trees, as some players would be upset of the removal of a spec they really liked. If the team could go back in time, there might have been a few that never got added, but now that those trees exist they will try to make them more distinct.

Subtlety Rogues will keep going down the ninja route, Combat will be a little more like a Pirate Swashbuckler, and Assassination will be about poisons and Damage over Time.

The Honor system is changing from a currency style system to an experience style system. You get benefits from the honor levels such as opportunities to get loot or gold.

The Prestige system will give hardcore players a reason to keep playing, even if their power doesn't increase.

Gear will have less of an impact in PvP. There is no such thing as PvP gear anymore, so no Resilience,PvP specific stats, or sets. Beyond a commonly available item level, you will get drastically diminishing returns from increasing your item level. Somewhere between 5 to 1 and 10 to 1 diminishing returns. The best raider in the game might have a 7% advantage over a player that just hit the level cap.

The team is considering allowing players to transmog their Mists of Pandaria legendary cloak and Warlords legendary ring, as they were available for a limited time. They want to avoid a situation like everyone farming Warglaives for transmog.

It is possible that in a future expansion more races could become Demon Hunters, but for now it is only Blood Elves and Night Elves.

You can use the double jump in battlegrounds and dungeons. The team will be careful to avoid breaking the game with Demon Hunters using double jump current content, such as groups that only want Demon Hunters to skip things in dungeons.

Tanaan is a big and awesome zone with a lot of cool spawns. It has generated a lot of engagement with the player base. There are a lot of players doing it every day. The team wants to continue to evolve the endgame world content model though, as they aren't happy with the combination of daily quests and bonus objectives. They are two pieces of the puzzle, but larger ongoing story development is also important, similar to what was in Patch 5.1. Other mechanics to add more replayability and variation would also be good additions and there are plans for Legion to make better endgame world content.

Gul'dan is the instigator in Legion, but not the big bad guy. He is a raid boss in the raids at launch, but not the final boss of the expansion.

All Druid forms connected with the Artifact weapon will be updated. (Keep in mind this is a translated summary, Moonkin was not specifically mentioned)

Legion Trademark
It appears that we didn't see the trademark early this time because it wasn't filed until the day of the announcement. Blizzard also trademarked "World of Warcraft Legion" rather than just the expansion name on its own this time.

Rogue Order Hall
Some Rogues were more enthusiastic about Ravenholdt as an Order Hall rather than Dalaran Sewers.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

As a rogue, #RavenholdtOrRiot
no riot pls. the feedback has definitely been heard, and is something we'll discuss back at the office (WatcherDev)dalaran sewers has no essence for me as a rogue, im sure others feel the same.
If I call it "a hidden rogues' guild in the Dalaran underground" is that any cooler? Sewer was not the greatest shorthand. (WatcherDev)Let me guess: you guys already did put some work into it, right? Don't want to start over?
Or, less cynically, I just want to make sure that feedback isn't being biased by "eww, sewer." (WatcherDev)
"Seedy underground thieves' lair, right under the public's noses" vs "mansion out in the mountains in the middle of nowhere"? (Celestalon)Light's Hope Chapel is just as "middle of nowhere" as Ravenholdt.
It's a strong Rogue theme to be 'hiding right behind you'. Not so much for Paladins. (Celestalon)The fact is, players *aren't* lowly thieves. They are the best of the best. And those folks like mansions!
Who said you were lowly? There are obviously preconceptions here, and any place can be portrayed poorly or greatly with copious use of adjectives with good/bad connotations. (Celestalon)

This is the kind of thing you should put out innocent-looking blog polls for well in advance. A "what location feels most iconic to your class?" blog would tell you exactly where to put them.
That would limit choices to existing locations. What if there's a cooler *new* place? (Celestalon)

BlizzCon Ticket Reminder: Attendee Information Deadline - August 14

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

If you purchased BlizzCon 2015 tickets for family or friends during the general attendee or Benefit Dinner sale, just a reminder you have until Friday, August 14 at 8 p.m. PT to edit attendee information via your Eventbrite account, including:

Full name of each attendee—this name will be used at badge pick-up, and will also be printed on badges

Valid email address for each attendee—used to receive BlizzCon-related communications

Character name (optional)—to be printed on the badge

To edit attendee names and emails, log in to your Eventbrite account at www.eventbrite.com/login, select Tickets from the drop-down menu under your profile name in the top right. Next, click Manage Order next to your BlizzCon 2015 ticket order. You can view and edit attendee info from this page.

Please note that if you change the name of an attendee, only the ticket bearing the name of the final attendee can be used to claim a badge. Names will be verified at the time of badge pickup.

Finally, if you’re still not sure who’s attending, make sure you’ve entered your own name and email address for each ticket you purchased (for up to 4 separate tickets)—in this case, remember that you’ll need to pick up all badges yourself and distribute them to your guests at the show.

For more info, check out the Badge Information page.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

PvP Gear
What Tom said was that someone wearing the absolute best PvE gear in the game might have a 7% advantage over someone who had just hit level 100 -- and thus, had not collected any gear at all. There was nothing about his statement at all that could be taken as "the best gear for PvP comes from PvE." I have no idea how you could have gotten that from what he said, unless you're purposefully trying to stir up trouble.

Our intent -- as it has been for several expansions now, and as it is currently in Warlords -- is for PvP gear to be the best available in PvP. That has not changed in Legion.

I'm curious how you guys will accomplish that with the complete removal of "pvp gear." Hopefully more info soon to clarify this gray area.
Yep, definitely something that needs clarifying. At the moment, we're just waiting for developers to get back from gamescom so we can be sure we have all of our facts straight. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

World PvP and PvP Talents
The intent is that PvP talents activate in world PvP, similar to how PvP item levels currently activate in Warlords. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Flying in LegionJudging by this quote, it would seem we are basically not going to be getting flying until long after the final patch in Legion.

Intentional or not, the wording from Blizzard on this issue is deceptive. They would be better off just out and saying "We feel the expansion is experienced better with no flying, but we will add it a while after the final patch".
The quote is in reference to how you are able to earn flying for Draenor via an Achievement. If you read some of the interviews out there (and we'll try to make sure we gather them up for people), it's mentioned that you should be able to start working on the Achievement as of the start of the expansion. Again, it's very early and we only just announced the expansion, so we'll have a lot more information to share on this and many other things announced during gamescom.

Flying for Draenor is coming and anyone who is able to help test it on the PTR is very appreciated. We want to make sure we have people in the air versus falling through the world.

Thanks for posting. Whether I agree with your sentiments or not, I understand you're trying to put a positive spin on a situation you did not create.
I'm just trying to add some balance where I can. I understand passion and understand people expressing that passion on a variety of topics regarding the game. But, expressing that passion can be done without resorting to hyperbole and code of conduct violations on the forums.

You are so about to be rushed by angry fly-babies. It was nice knowing you though.
People have been twisting my words or using them as "promises" for many years now. I'm not going anywhere. I also don't like the trend of calling people or groups of people names just because they have something they feel strongly about. It's not worthy of anyone who wants to have their thoughts taken seriously. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Pre-Order for LegionWhen World of Warcraft Legion will be available for pre order ? Im so excited I want to pre order it right now lol.
We'll let you know when pre-orders become available. Don't worry.

I know people have a lot of questions about what will be included in the pre-order, but I don't have those answers to share just yet. We'll make sure we cover as much as possible when we announce them though. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

LegionArtifact's stats will still improve as you defeat BOSSES, Relics: completing major quest lines, DUNGEONS, & RAIDS...
The more difficult the content you do, the higher your weapon's DPS will be. That's been true since 2004, no? (WatcherDev)

Character / ItemsDid you just nerf Felblight x5 drop rates a couple hours ago? Was getting them ALL the time the past 5 days, now i get none.
This was hotfixed yesterday. It wasn't intended for 5x Felblight to drop so frequently from profession resources in Tanaan. (WarcraftDevs)

Events
There are three tents still marked as Under Construction at the Darkmoon Faire. What mini-games would you put there? (Muffinus)Had some real ideas for an Darkmoon faire but its been a while. Ill get back to you with them when I remember
Already have plans for two of them so you'd better hurry >=] (Muffinus)Hammer and bell is kinda boring though... if there were no constraints, what would you wanna implement?
No constraints at all? Darkmoon DDR. Like Flash Flash Revolution but with techno carnival music. (Muffinus)

Win a Real Prop from the Warcraft Film

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

The epic battle between Horde and Alliance is being brought to the big screen next year, but you don’t have to wait that long to get your hands on a piece of the Warcraft film. If you had the chance to visit the Blizzard booth at gamescom 2015, you may have seen some of the exclusive weapon props from the movie on display. Now, we’re giving you the chance to take one home!

Up for grabs is an iconic Alliance shield from the film that would take pride of place in any Warcraft fan’s collection. To enter to win this rare loot, share a photo of your best battle stance on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the tags #WarcraftMovie and #BlizzGC2015. You’ll have one week to submit your pics—be sure to share them by August 16. The owner of the most impressive and creative battle stance will walk away with this extraordinary prize.

You can read the full contest rules here. May the best battle stance win!

Legion Dev Talk
There was a 45 minute stream with the developers today which included a few questions and lots of Gamescom recap.

Some players were upset about the number of questions that were answered:

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

So disappointing. Waste of my time.
Sorry you felt that way - we probably should have promoted it differently, but it was more of a gc recap with some new info. (WatcherDev)We were promised a decent Q/A with new info. You answered none of our questions.
Genuinely curious where that promise was made, because clearly we did a terrible job of setting expectations. (WatcherDev)"Devs will be jumping back onto a stream to dive further into the exp features and content."
Yeah, communication fail on our end. :/ Not much I can do at this point but apologize. I definitely understand the disappointment. (WatcherDev)

Re: amount of Legion info at gamescom: we made the mistake with Warlords of talking about too much too early, and some stuff didn't make it.
That's something we're trying very hard to avoid as much as possible with Legion, which means being a little tighter-lipped about our plans.
The info will come, we just want to limit the risk of going back on what we share as much as possible. (CM_Lore)

Re: the gamescom Q&A/dev talk, I think that was an internal miscommunication. Many of us (myself included) also thought it was to be a Q&A.
Can't do anything but apologize for that. We'll circle back and do better next time. (CM_Lore)

Any chance we could get a proper Q&A in the near future?
Almost certainly. (CM_Lore)

The team has known Legion would be the next expansion back when they started coming up of the Warlords of Draenor concepts.

We are back in the normal Azeroth, no alternative universe.

Why does the Legion keep trying to take over Azeroth? The expansion will reveal this over time.

Illidan is a really important part of Gul'dan's plans.

Illidan is not pleased with us after Black Temple. Who knows how he will react if and when we come across him to ask for help.

12,000 years ago there was a festering wound in The Broken Isles. The Pillars of Creation were used to seal the wound. The Temple of Elune was built on top. The wound was opened again and an infinite number of demons is coming through.

The Dalaran in Broken Isles has been updated, with a few changes and texture updates.

Eventually you will be able to fly in Legion, but not right away, similar to Warlords. Starting in Patch 7.0 the first steps towards the flying achievement will be available.

The DPS and item level are determined by the Relics, as well as modifiers to traits. (This was covered in a little more detail in interviews)

The team wants to make sure it isn't 2x the work to maintain 2x artifacts. You will need to earn separate relics for your other Artifacts though.

There will be a quest line for each profession.

There will be some system changes to professions as a whole to improve the UI and add new functionality.

One more character slot will be added.

People that are playing Demon Hunters would likely be playing a melee spec anyway, so it shouldn't add too many more melee.

Alex Afrasiabi apparently does an amazing female Gnome dance, but didn't share it with the stream.

Dev InterviewsBlizzPlanet had the chance to talk to the developers about Legion. New information that wasn't in other interviews is below:

There won't be another filler patch between Warlords and the Legion invasion, other than the flying patch.

Ruby Sanctum didn't work out well. It was entertaining for a week or so, as there was one boss to kill and then you were done.

In Warlords, the team didn't do enough to express the story through in-game content. The garrison campaign wasn't enough.

One more character slot is being added.

Having one artifact per spec will help to focus the specs. Right now Frost Death Knights can use a two-hand weapon or dual wield, but their artifact is two runeblades, so they will focus on dual-wielding in Legion and Unholy will focus on two-hand weapons.

The new Honor system allows for some new abilities to be added that would have been cut in the past, as they were PvP only.

Draenor's forces are busy rebuilding Draenor, so they are not going to come and help with the Burning Legion.

Illidan's storyline will span the entire expansion.

Only allowing elves to be Demon Hunters fits the lore and is the right choice for Legion.

One of the social features under development is notifying you when friends join a queue and allowing you to queue with them.

The team would also like to improve communication across groups. If you have a group of friends you raid with or PvP with there should be a better way to communicate with them.

Older time limited legendary items, such as the Mists of Pandaria cape, may become transmogable.

The sewers of Dalaran were mentioned as an Order Hall for Rogues again.

Champions will unlock or complement content rather than doing content for you.

Glaives are a new type of weapon that Demon Hunters use. They are a pair that comes together and fills both slots. In the future, Demon Hunters might dual wield the standard agility weapons. (Currently the class page has different information)

The Demon Hunter Artifact glaives can be see in some of the character creation screenshots for Demon Hunters.

The team talked about having the Demon Hunter wear mail, but it didn't fit the class identity.

Demon Hunters are agile, so they will be wearing leather. This isn't a huge problem now that Personal Loot is used in most places.

The Demon Hunter is going to be a very agile class, so tanks may have lots of Dodge and Parry mechanics for their tanking style.

For now, Demon Hunters are the only ones who get tattoos.

Demon Hunter has been considered since Wrath of the Lich King. It finally fit the expansion's story and theme, which is why it can be added now.

In order to fight demons, Illidan had to partner with demons. He had to sacrifice many things for great power and so do the Illidari, which is why Demon Hunters look somewhat like Illidan.

Classes

No stat squish is planned for this expansion.

The team hasn't decided if there will be another talent row or not, as the Artifact weapon will have a decent number of choices for you to make.

Survival Hunters will be a melee class with pet going forward.

Beast Mastery Hunters will fight at range with a pet.

Marksmanship Hunters will fight at range with no pet.

Survival and Marksmanship have been too similar in the past, which is why they are being changed in Legion.

Demonology Warlocks will also be getting some bigger changes, focusing more on their demons.

Demonology Warlocks will be refocused on summoning and controlling demons rather than having Metamorphosis dominate. Other specs will still have access to demons.

Discipline Priests

Disc Priests are going to be a much more offensive healer after another pass on Atonement which will make it more interactive.

They will still have heals and PW:S, but they will sustain their healing through doing DPS.

Closer to 50% damage and 50% healing spec.

In the past, when Atonement was popular you would just spam Smite and Holy Fire all fight long and use the smart healing, which wasn't very interactive. This time, you may throw out some single target heals giving players a buff. Next time you Smite, people who have that buff will get your healing, and you will have to refresh the buff periodically.

These changes should fix the absorb heavy nature of Discipline Priests.

Holy Priests will still be all about healing.

The team has learned some lessons from how Fistweaving works now and will talk about what they are doing to solve the problems with it in the future.

Dungeons

The team isn't sure how exactly they will incentivize players to keep going back to dungeons yet. Once you started to raid in Draenor, you had no reason to go back to a dungeon, which is not good. Mists of Pandaria was a better model, where you had a reward for doing a dungeon every day.

Normal and Heroic dungeons will exist in Legion, but the team isn't sure if they will do Mythic at the start. They haven't decided when they will add Mythic, but they do like it.

The team likes challenge modes and wants to try and make them more accessible. They aren't guaranteed to be added to Legion.

Artifacts and Items

You will not loot weapons in Legion.

The item bonus system (Warforged, sockets, and extra stats) worked out well, so it could be extended to have even more bonuses.

The team has a few ideas for how artifacts will work:

Your Artifact will start at epic and then there will be some way for it to become legendary over time.

Your Artifact will start as legendary.

Your artifact may not have a quality, it could just be its own thing.

The goal is for players to have an item that they are working on powering up and it can become a legendary, rewarding players who do all of the expansion's content, similar to Mists of Pandaria and Warlords.

There will be no catch up mechanics for Artifact weapons on alts.

The team doesn't want it to be too painful if you want to change specs, so there might be some kind of catch up mechanic for getting the Artifact weapon for another spec.

How we actually get the Artifact weapons from the characters currently wielding them will be revealed in the future.

Eventually you will be able to unlock every trait in the Artifact weapon tree. You may be able to take different paths to unlocking them all though.

You will be leveling the Artifact weapon throughout the entire expansion.

The Artifact weapons have Relic slots, which will determine its raw item stats (DPS, ilvl, etc.) and modifiers to the traits you've chosen, so the Artifact's stats will still improve as you defeat bosses.

Relics are things you can socket into the artifact and are rewarded from completing major quest lines, dungeons, and raids. This way you still get weapon upgrades from the same sources, but keep the same weapon.

Artifact weapons can be transmoged into other weapons, but not the other way around.

There are weapons cooler than Benediction and Anathema for Priest Artifact weapons.

Earning the Artifact has a class and spec specific quest, but it isn't anywhere near the green fire quest in terms of scale and difficulty.

Raids

Raids today are harder than they have ever been.

Raids worked out well for the most part in Warlords, but the team has talked about how to make loot better and how to improve personal loot for Legion.

Having some encounters that favor melee and some that favor ranged is not a problem, as long as there isn't a huge gap between the two.

On rumors that Sylvanas might be a raid boss: "That's interesting".

Order Halls

Order Halls won't have an auction house or bank.

You will spend less time in your Order Hall than you did in your Garrison. You go back to do quests, work on your artifact, and interact with your champions. You will likely spend a lot of your downtime in Dalaran.

The Dalaran Sewers were mentioned as being associated with rogues when providing context for an Order Hall question.

The Order Halls may have different sections. For example, in the Paladin's Order Hall, the Blood Elf Paladins may be in a different section from The Sunwalkers, as well as the Humans and Dwarves.

The fantasy in Draenor was collecting followers to raise an army. In Legion, you are the leader of your class order and you have a smaller number of elite heroes by your side. They should complement and enhance your gameplay rather than compete with you.

PvP

The Conquest system is going away.

The goals is to remove PvP gear. There will be PvP ways to obtain gear, but the power in PvP will be about the gear you obtain and the PvP talents that you unlock.

World

The location of the Broken Isles will be revealed in the future.

The team isn't sure how they will handle Dalaran yet. They could do sanctuary areas again or split it up.

Only the raid takes place in the Emerald Nightmare, but it could be expanded on in the future.

Karazhan is an important place.

Flying

The team is happy with how flying worked out in Draenor. You will have to level up and explore the land before you are able to fly, similar to what is coming in Patch 6.2.1.

Future

The team still wants to release expansions faster.

Legion will release next year, but no specific date has been set yet.

There isn't a solid patch schedule plan for Legion yet.

The expansion after Legion is already being planned.

The cinematic isn't complete just yet.

The transmog overhaul should make it easier to use. You should be able to browse through what you have unlocked and what you could unlock for each slot, more like a dressing room than the current system.

As far as the listed social improvements go, the team has ideas on how to bring different servers together, different ways to connect to your friends, and on how to match-make friends better. Keep in mind that these are just ideas at this point.

The team strongly believes that WoW is best played with friends. It is the most fun when you can make connections with other players in game or bring in friends from outside the game and play together.

Misc

The professions team for Legion is the largest that Blizzard has ever had for WoW and lots of new things are coming. The team heard the feedback about Warlords professions.

There are a lot of surprises in store for players in Legion and the team doesn't want players to think we are just going back to the same stuff.

Patch 6.1 was not named correctly and they could have done better.

Garrisons are staying in Draenor, so you can go back and visit them if you want.

The subscriber count is more volatile than it used to be because players have gotten older and don't have as much free time anymore. As long as players are happy and enjoy the game, the team doesn't mind extreme peaks and valleys. They just want to ensure you have a great experience and feel like you got your money's worth.

The team doesn't focus on or make decisions based on what their subscriber count is. They focus on making the best game they can, learn some lessons, and keep moving forward.

Focusing an expansion on new places and characters, such as Mists of Pandaria is not a mistake. It was a nice break from having one big bad guy, with a focus on exploration and adventure.

Gamescom 2015 Legion Dev Talk - Live Stream This Sunday

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Yesterday at gamescom we unveiled World of Warcraft: Legion, the next chapter in the Warcraft saga—but that was just the beginning. Members of the development team will be jumping back onto a stream this Sunday, August 9 at 8 a.m. PDT to dive further into the expansion’s features and content.

We’ll embed the stream right here when it goes live, so set your Hearthstones to return to this article on Sunday!

Patch 6.2 Hotfixes - August 6 - 7

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Raids and Dungeons
Hellfire CitadelFel Lord Zakuun

Wake of Destruction should no longer multistrike and should not scale with the caster's damage modifiers.

Items

The following battle standards are no longer usable in a rated PvP environment.

Seer Kazal is now easier to locate in Horde Garrisons during the appropriate bonus events.

Garrison Campaign

Destroying the Competition: Players that have abandoned and reacquired the quest should now be able to complete it.

PvP
Ashran

Increased the respawn timer for Ancient Artifact.

Bug Fix

Fixed an issue that could case players to be unable to teleport or log out after being dismounted from a multi-passenger mount.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Burning Crusade RemakeBlizz. Love you guys, Love your games. I have since Orcs. But.... A reboot? Burning Crusade II? Come on guys.
I'm not sure how it's a reboot unless you've managed to go to the Broken Isles before or seen Aszhara before etc.

As for the Legion – we always knew they could make a return – and boy are they going to make a return...

OP is Troll. please delete thread and move on.
Perhaps, or perhaps not. I've seen more than one person make this sort of claim/statement, and it bears a rebuttal even if to just put it out there.

I am not trying to be ugly here or anything of the sort but I have to ask you a question. Why did you feel it was necessary to reply to this thread three times yet I just had to go a third party website to answer a question I posed to you directly about transmog and artifact weapons.
Let me start by saying that I come to the forums when I can, that being said, I don't always get to spend much time in them since I have other duties beyond just posting here. The question was answered on that third party site because during events like gamescom we do interviews with people on the latest information while the information is fresh and the people who want to do interviews and the people doing the interviews are in the same location. I could have pointed you to the interview and started to, but saw others had also already posted and shared it in several locations on the forums.

I also asked you about the flight meta in Legion in another thread, but I don't even expect an answer to that. The transmog answer was on Icy Veins, but what if I didn't know about Icy Veins. Third party websites should not be your primary source for giving out information.

I have no problem whatsoever with blues replying to threads like this one or the silly ones about cats wearing socks or whatever. How about also maybe answering player questions from time to time as well, maybe at least an equal rate as you all post in fluff threads. I know fluff posts are a lot easier to reply to. But this isn't your hobby, it's a job.
It's a portion of my job, a very small portion, but one I take seriously. Often, it comes in the form of the blog posts on the front page among other things. "Fluff" posts (as you put them) have their place. They lift spirits, give us a chance to interact on a human level, reaffirm we're here and reading beyond just what is going on in said "fluff" post and more. Our job is like an iceberg. You only see the tip of it but it runs much deeper under the surface.

I know not every question can get a direct a blue reply. That would not be feasible. However, you must admit that there is a very real perception that player concerns are not being addressed or even heard. Replying to more questions directly and having info on the actual game forum would go a long way to improving the situation.
I completely agree there is a perception that some people have as to what we are or are not doing, answering or not answering. I'd love to say we can answer everything, but we can't or often can't right now. That doesn't mean it may not be getting answered whether directly or some other way. We are always watching, reading, compiling feedback, watching what people are saying, and more.

I really don't mind answering this for you and explaining it a bit to you because if you're asking and wondering, others are too. This is what I can offer you right now. Just know we aren't sitting about idly waiting for something to pop up for us to do. We are always doing and planning. We'll keep on trying to keep in touch with you all on everything that we can as we can. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Feature DesignSo, they add features in an expansion, they build on them in the next, or take them away and replace them with other features, it all just seems so random.

With MoP, we had Scenarios, they just got rid of them in WoD and decided we can't do them any more. Maybe just building on the infrastructure for solo scenarios during questing.

We had Sunsong Ranch where you could get mats easily, then it was built on in WoD with us being able to get Ore and Herbs easily.

We had Garrisons in WoD, and instead of building on that and giving us instanced Housing or anything in Legion, they just abandoned the concept entirely, and we get Guild Halls instead.

Some things like PvP, transmog etc. just get built on over time and just get better and better. and of course Dungeons and Raids are pretty much a constant and a success.

So why does it feel like Blizzard is just throwing Random stuff at us to see if it sticks, abandoning it if it doesn't, and trying something else?
It's never random and it's not that things are "taken away" so much as changed or just not added into the next expansion. There are generally reasons behind it all even if they aren't terribly transparent (though we try to explain what as much as we can.)

Sometimes it's an issue of compounding design that gets overly cumbersome and so it's better to move on with something newer than to keep iterating on the same thing.

Sometimes it's better to iterate on something and change it up than leave it stagnating.

Sometimes it's just a question of "does this make sense as a part of the next expansion?" If the answer is "no" and it's not part of the story and progression of that story, then it doesn't move on.

There are myriad reasons for myriad design changes and we'll keep doing what we can to answer what we can for you. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Pet Battle Bonus Event August 7-10

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Through Monday, August 10, Pet Battle experience gains are increased by +200%. There’s never been a better time to get out there and level up your mighty minions!

Before you head out into the wild with your lower-level wild things, make sure you pick up the quest “The Very Best”. Because you’re the best – around – you’ll want to queue up for PvP Pet Battles with a team of three level-25 pets. After only five wins during the event, you’ll be rewarded with an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone, which means another level 25 is on its way to your collection.

A few days ago, we listed some of the most-favored Battle Pets in the game and asked you to choose only one. There’s still time to cast your vote!

What’s your team for PvP Pet Battles? We’d like to know, so tell us about it in the comments below.

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

ClassesAMS has lower priority than healers' absorbs. I have to /cancelaura those to gain RP, kinda silly. Is it intended?
Absorbs are checked and consumed from smallest to largest, and AMS is a large absorb. Intended, but yes, kinda silly. (WarcraftDevs)

If Death Strike shields are AM, why isn't Brewmaster Shuffle? Same exact premise, or Guard for that [email protected]
The official Active Mitigation mechanics are timing-based/reactive. Shuffle can be up nearly full-time. (WarcraftDevs)

Character / Items"Wild Gladiator's Insignia of Conquest" not accurately giving agility. Grants a little over 1000 not 1259. Please fix
These items are giving the intended amount of stats; the tooltip is incorrect. This will be fixed in a future patch. (WarcraftDevs)

PvPPvp is about beating better players. If i get stuck because i can't beat worse players that play better classes i want change
Yeah, I think reaching a skill level goes hand in hand with investment. I've spent time on this, I don't want to be cheated. (craig_amai)

with the whole mercenary thing is it auto assigned race or can I choose?
Your mercenary race is auto-assigned. (WarcraftDevs)

With the incoming nerf to healing in PvP are there any plans to compensate Ret Paladins who rely on self healing for defense?
No, we felt healing in the game in general needed to be reduced. (WarcraftDevs)

LoreHey is Zandalar still sinking or has it already sunk. Contradicting information in game makes it unclear.
Still sinking last we heard. Complete disaster area! (DaveKosak)

I have a question relating to one I asked a couple of days ago. Since shaman manipulate chi per Kosak would former shaman still be able to manipulate chi?
"Chi" is just the Pandaren term for the life force that Shaman manipulate. Same stuff. (DaveKosak)

WorldIndeed. As leveling content I think treasures / rares worked very well. Addon or not they drove exploration.
Glad you liked the new rare and treasure treatments. I was very eager to get those systems in to encourage exploration more. (craig_amai)personally, Wrath style leveling with rates / treasures would be the ideal. Looking forward to seeing that stuff in future lvlng
I'm curious, what about wrath-style leveling stands out to you as an ideal? (craig_amai)So I think Wrath's quest flow & choice nailed the RPG in mmorpg & that the exploration mechanics would accompany that very well.
I do think there's some value in advancing the tone of how the player is regarded in a new expansion... (craig_amai)
...for the sake of preventing things from feeling stale if nothing else. (craig_amai)
But I generally agree that I like that big open-world RPG feel most. A surprisingly divisive topic in my experience. (craig_amai)

GarrisonsAre the shipyard blueprint drops added in yesterdays hotfix the unobtainable ones? (ammo reserves, extra quarters, etc) thanks
No, we have no plans to make these blueprints available. (WarcraftDevs)

PTR
Lots and lots of updates to bugs reported for 6.2.1, thanks for all of the reports! Should now also be able to fly in Stormshield/Warspear. (Muffinus)since its a small area I'm not sure flying should be a thing there, but thanks for the update! Can't wait for it to go live!
It was a pain to be able to fly there only to be dismounted at the last second in the water. Let us know if there are issues. (Muffinus)

Miscso whats up with all the stuff being added to the game but not added to the game?
All the things? Is there anything else? (Muffinus)Tune-o-Tron Micro I found Pepe seems like things are added on the front end then forgotten the carrot is there and then taken away
Tune-o-tron micro is the port. audiophone it was just added twice by accident and the old name was left in. (Muffinus)
Not every thing that is datamined as in the game is in the game, you can find tons of items that are never dropped. (Muffinus)its not about data mining. Those two are listed in game, toybox and achievements

Heroes of the Storm - Gamescom Preview
Blizzard showed off some of the heroes, skins, and mounts currently in development at Gamescom today.

Legion Artwork
The press kit contains a nice high res version of the Legion artwork. You can find different size wallpapers using the same artwork on the official site.

Legion is the next World of Warcraft expansion! Demon Hunter Hero Class
It's official, the next World of Warcraft expansion will be World of Warcraft - Legion! The official Legion site is online. Beta begins later this year.

Recap
The team managed to cover a lot of new information in a short period of time! We have recapped almost all of it below:

Improved support for in-game communities: Create social circles with friends that have shared interests, and form the perfect group to play your way.

Story

The Legion CGI cinematic is coming soon.

The Broken Isles is a land at the heart of Azeroth that is long forgotten. 10,000 years ago, before the Great Sundering, the whole area was a vast Night Elf civilization. What remains after the world was destroyed is the bones of that civilization. The entire continent is a graveyard of sorts.

The Broken Isles has the Tomb of Sargeras, a gateway to endless Legion worlds.

A demonic invasion bigger than the War of the Ancients is currently underway. It is the biggest demonic invasion of Azeroth ever.

We are going to track down the source of this invasion at the Broken Shore and take the fight directly to Gul'dan and his demonic armies. After a glorious battle at the Tomb of Sargeras our story will begin. This will all take place before the expansion officially launches.

The Broken Shore experience is like the Assault on the Dark Portal for Warlords, but structured completely differently to help tell the story better. Every single person that has played WoW is going to be surprised and shocked.

After the Broken Shore, we wake up to a world on fire and need to save the world.

We will wield Artifact weapons such as Ashbringer and Doomhammer to attempt to restore peace to a world on the brink of annihilation.

To help restore peace, we are going to form Class Orders, or renew old ones, such as the Silver Hand.

We are going to need all of the help we can get to fight the Burning Legion, so Demon Hunters are key.

The last time we faced Demon Hunters, most of them wanted to kill us.

We will see the story of the Illidari through Illidan's eyes. We will go back to the moment during the siege of the Black Temple where we see Illidan send the Illidari back on a special mission.

We see the prison world of Mar'duun. This is the world Sargeras created when he was a good Titan to hold all of the demons that he captured. When he went bad, this is the world he shattered to release the Burning Legion.

We also go through the secret halls of the Vault of the Wardens.

We search the Broken Isles for the Pillars of Creation. These are Titan relics that were used to shape the world when it was young. Using them we can close the gateway in the Tomb of Sargeras.

Alleria and Turalyon will finally make an appearance.

Heroes and Villians

Maiev Shadowsong - If the Watchers are infamous among the night elves, Maiev Shadowsong is a legend. Famed for her uncanny ability to capture any enemy, Maiev tracked Illidan Stormrage, the Betrayer, all the way to the Black Temple in Outland. After his demise, she imprisoned his surviving followers, the Illidari, vowing never to allow the fel-touched demon hunters to roam free ever again.

Xavius - Xavius once terrorized Azeroth with an affliction that almost obliterated the walls between reality and dream. His machinations ended in defeat, but he has been given another chance at vengeance. Now, Xavius leads the conquest of Val'sharah, where the tainted World Tree Shaladrassil spreads the Emerald Nightmare's corruption. With an army of vile satyrs at his command, Xavius will stop at nothing to vanquish all who oppose the Burning Legion.

Anduin Wrynn - Heir to the throne of Stormwind, Anduin is wise beyond his years. Time and again, he has used diplomacy to end conflict, inspiring even his warrior father to lay down arms in pursuit of peace. But diplomacy has its limits, and some villains can't be reasoned with. As the Burning Legion threatens to annihilate Azeroth, Anduin will learn the true cost of peace… and whether he's willing to pay it.

Tidemistress Athissa - Queen Azshara, former leader of the ancient night elves, rules the naga with supreme authority. Her servants are many, but few can match the fanatical devotion of Athissa. At her queen's command, she is poised to lead a massive naga army into Azsuna, a region rumored to hold a long-lost titan relic of power. Nothing will stand between Athissa and this prize—not the cursed night elf spirits who haunt the land nor the Horde and Alliance forces that are gathering on the Broken Isles.

Genn Greymane - In recent years, the grizzled ruler of Gilneas has suffered many hardships: his son and his nation fell to the Banshee Queen Sylvanas and her Forsaken, and he nearly lost his humanity to the worgen curse. Yet from these tragedies, Genn has found new strength and courage. He is determined to fight tooth and claw against any enemy that threatens the safety of the Alliance.

Dargrul the Underking - For centuries, the tauren and the drogbar tribes of Highmountain lived in peace. But soon after the Legion's arrival, a drogbar leader named Dargrul the Underking destroyed their unity and stole the Hammer of Khaz'goroth, a powerful artifact protected by the Highmountain tauren. Using the terrible power of the Hammer, the Underking intends to take control of Highmountain.

Khadgar - Though he was unable to stop Gul'dan from opening the Tomb of Sargeras, allowing the Legion to flood into Azeroth once more, Khadgar is determined to find the means to reseal the portal and foil the Legion's invasion. He knows that the combined forces of the greatest champions of Azeroth are necessary to succeed, even as dissenting voices speak against a coalition and risk ultimate destruction by the demons.

Gul'dan - Gul'dan owes allegiance to no one save his Burning Legion masters. On Draenor, the power-hungry orc warlock nearly had his entire race enslaved to demons. Though his plans failed, Gul'dan survived. Under the Legion’s command, he was banished to Azeroth to open a gateway for a monstrous invasion force unlike anything the Horde and the Alliance have ever faced.

Sylvanas Windrunner - The Forsaken's ruthless leader is a formidable champion of her people. But with the Burning Legion's invasion, the stakes for the Dark Lady have never been higher. Should Sylvanas perish, her demise will be the beginning of her eternal damnation. All that stand between her and this doom are her Val'kyr, yet few of these spirit guardians remain. As her fate edges closer to the abyss, Sylvanas must decide how far she'll go to protect her people… and whether they're more precious to her than her soul.

Illidan Stormrage - After the fall of the Black Temple, the corpse of the lord of Outland, Illidan Stormrage, disappeared. No one knows the true fate of Illidan's remains, but legend holds that Warden Maiev Shadowsong took his broken body to the Vault of the Wardens so that Illidan's dark, lingering soul could suffer the rest of his eternal sentence—along with his followers, the feared Illidari. Justice to be forever served…

Zones

Dalaran and the Kirin Tor will be joining us in the Broken Isles, becoming the main hub for this expansion.

Val'Sharah was once the pinnacle of druidism on Azeorth, but it is now a forgotten druid refuge on the Broken Isles. This is the place place Malfurion became the first Druid under Cenarius. Here we face Xavius, the Nightmare Lord and his massive Satyr army. They are trying to unleash the Emerald Nightmare into our world. We will meet up with Ysera to help fight back the Nightmare. We will also enter Black Rook Hold.

We are going into the Emerald Nightmare, where will get glimpses into the Emerald Dream.

Stormheim has the Vrykul that left Northrend thousands of years ago in search of their holy land. We will discover the Halls of Valor and Hellheim, home to two Titan keepers that have been at war for thousands of years. We will learn about origins of the the Val'kyr and Kvaldir as we ride the Ship of Souls into the Maw of Hell. We will also be fighting the Vrykul God King and his minions, who are now minions of the Burning Legion.

Azsuna represents the bones of the ancient Night Elf civilization. It has ghosts of ancient Night Elves, a dying breed of the Blue Dragonflight, and the Nightfallen. The Nightfallen are exiled royalty from Suramar that have been left to die outside of the walls of their city. We will be racing Queen Azshara and her minions for control of the Pillar of Creation in the zone.

Highmountain is the home of the Highmountain Tauren, who are the keepers of the Relic of Kazgoroth. Only the biggest and strongest creatures can survive here. We will visit the lair of the Earth-Warder to get some answers. Neltharion is dead, but there are other things there. Nessingwary will also appear here.

Suramar has a new race of elves made from an old race of elves. They have lived here for 10,000 years and have flourished thanks to the use of their magical ability. They have become pawns of the Burning Legion and have the last relic we need. We have to kill them all, as well as their guard and Gul'dan to secure the last relic.

Artifacts

The Legion represents the greatest threat to our world that we have ever faced, so we weapons with greater power than we have ever had before to stand a chance.

There are 36 Artifacts, one for each class and specialization.

After the Broken Shore, you will seek out the Artifact for your spec.

Where you go to find your artifact will vary depending on your class and spec.

Retribution Paladins will be returning to the Broken Shore to look for Ashbringer where it fell in battle and was lost so that you can wield it.

Protection Warriors will follow up on the legends of ancient Vrykul king that was buried with a sword and shield forged from the scales of the dragon Neltharion. You delve into his tomb and overcome the ancient curses that lay there in order to wield those weapons for yourself.

Frost Death Knights will seek out Frostmourne's shards in Icecrown Citadel and reforge them into a pair of runeblades.

You will earn Artifact Power as you accomplish things. Completing quest lines, dungeons, outdoor objectives, battlegrounds, and most major activities. The power is spent to unlock traits that empower your weapon and character, as well as visual customization.

Ashbringer - Echo of the Highlord - When you use Templar's Verdict or Divine Storm, Ashrbringer will mimic that action after 2 sec.

Each Artifact has a trait tree that is a grid overlaid on the weapon's shape. You choose how you navigate the tree.

You spend Artifact Power to unlock traits. Once a trait is unlocked, the adjacent nodes unlock. At the far end of the trees are the major impactful abilities.

Death Knight - Icebringer and Soulreaper - Arise and Serve - Raise Ally now restores all health and mana. Upon death, the Death Knight now has an option to raise himself.

Some traits are simple damage increases, some transform your rotation, and some are new utility such as Death Knights being able to resurrect themselves.

Each weapon has different looks that you can unlock, with different color variants for each look. These are unlocked by leveling your weapon, achievements, raiding, and PvP.

The base weapon has the look we all know and love. Then there is an upgraded version of the base style, as well as variants such as an Ashbringer made out of fire, shadow, or lightning.

Weapon Examples

Sheilun, Staff of the Mists - Mistweaver Monks will go to Pandaria to see out the staff of Emperor Shaohao. The variants have Pandaren influences such as the Red Crane, Jade Serpent, or Sha.

Felo'melorn was a spell sword wielded by Kael'thas against the Lich King at Icecrown Citadel, where it was lost. Fire Mages will seek out the blade.

The Eagle Spear is new to the lore. Highmountain Tauren weapon for Survival Hunters. The variants have several animal themes, such as the wolf, bear, and serpent.

Icebringer and Soulreaper are blades forged out of the shards of Frostmourne. All of the variants have skulls!

Doomhammer is the weapon for Enhancement Shamans. There are Fel, Fire, Crystal, and other variants.

Fangs of the First Nightsaber is for Feral and Guardian druids. They can customize the look of their form rather than customizing a weapon. Spectral, Armored, and other variants will be available. The base cat form is also getting an updated model.

Class Orders

The Alliance and Horde are at each others throats, so classes will have to band together to fight the Burning Legion.

You lead the Class Order, as you are wielding an Artifact weapon.

There will be a heavy focus on class identity in Legion. Every class should feel different.

Order Halls are a base of operations for your class and you share them with other players of your class.

Only members of your class can enter the Order Halls, similar to the Death Knight starting area.

Order Halls will be located in thematically appropriate areas for each class.

After finding your Artifact, you will establish your Order Hall.

Shamans are in a hollowed out cave overlooking the Maelstrom at a point where all of the elements come together.

Order Halls are the place you go to customize and upgrade your Artifact, as well as start special quests and missions.

Your Hall has Champions, an evolution of the followers system from Draenor.

This time around you aren't raising an army by recruiting just anyone, but a small elite group.

Some of your champions will be established characters, such as Lady Liadrin.

These champions will more customization and more integration with the world.

Your champions won't do things instead of you, but instead help you to accomplish things.

They may go on a scouting mission and discover an area for you to investigate.

You may send them to a zone, which gives you bonuses when you are completing objectives there.

You will work alongside them and with them rather than sending them out on missions to compete with you on earning rewards.

Dungeons and Raids

Dungeons are essential to the MMO experience.

The team wants to make sure that there are more dungeons, more varied challenges, and more replayability, and more of a reason to keep doing dungeons throughout the expansion.

Halls of Valor

Located high up in the clouds above Stormheim

Level up dungeon

The art and feel of the dungeon is heavily inspired by Valhalla.

This is where the greatest warriors of the Vrykul are called to serve. It is their eternal reward for being the best.

As you are seeking out the Pillar of Creation in Stormheim, you are contending with the Legion cooperating leader of the Vrykul, the God King. As you race against him through the zone, both of your paths lead you to this dungeon, which is the location of the Pillar. You must prove yourself worthy in battle so that you can claim it.

We also learn more about the origin of the Val'kyr here. These aren't the Undead Val'kyr from Northrend, but the pure warrior of the Light.

Black Rook Hold

Max level dungeon located in Val'Sharah, the ancestral home of Lord Kur'talos Ravencrest.

This elven structure was a bulwark against the Legion, until a shadow fell upon it, carved out of the mountain to be an unassailable fortress.

You start in the catacombs below Black Rook Hold and work your way through the outside to the top of the spire.

Vault of the Wardens

This is where Demon Hunters awaken.

It was the Warden maximum security facility to hold all of the greatest threats to the world, including Demon Hunters and other terrifying monsters.

This is where Gul'dan found Illidan, so this is where you begin the hunt for Gul'dan and Illidan.

Eye of Azshara is located in Azsuna. This is where you contend with the minions of Queen Azshara and the Naga.

Darkheart Thicket is located in Val'Sharah at the base of the World Tree. It is the heart of the Nightmare corruption that is spreading throughout the zone. You fight your way into a chamber at the base of the tree to rescue Malfurion from the corruption of the Nightmare.

Neltharion's Lair is located in Highmountain. This is the cavern where Neltharion lived before he became Deathwing. This has become the center of society for the rocky warriors of Highmountain. We need to venture into their capital to recover the Pillar of Creation wielded by their chieftain.

Helheim

This dungeon is somewhat located in Stormheim.

It is the polar opposite of the Halls of Valor.

The cursed spirits get on the ship Nifflevar, which leads them to Helheim, where they are cursed for all eternity as Kvaldir.

This is the Ghost Ship of the Damned, with most of the dungeon taking place on the ship, sailing through stormy seas in an immersive environment unlike anything we have seen in a dungeon ever before.

Suramar City is the City of Night, where the Nightborne rule from their palace. The city contains catacombs beneath it and noble houses throughout the city, both of which you will venture into to discover ties to the Legion and the ultimate plan that is unfolding.

Violet Hold had some deep secrets that we didn't discover the first time around, but these are now awakened by proximity to the Tomb of Sargeras. We learn more about the origins of Dalaran, mages of Dalaran, and the origins of the world itself.

The raid structure in Warlords of Draenor worked out well, so the same type of structure is used in Legion.

The Emerald Nightmare is a raid with 7 bosses

Players have always wanted to see the Emerald Dream.

It was created by the Titans as a blueprint for Azeroth itself, a perfect version of our world.

Something went wrong and the world has descended into corruption and Nightmare. That threatens to spread into our world and engulf it.

In the dungeon we enter the roots of the tree, but in the raid we climb into the tree and cross through the barrier that separates our reality from the reality of the Dream. We will go in, root out corruption, seek out Cenarius, and confront Xavius himself at the heart of the Nightmare.

Suramar Palace is a raid with 10 bosses.

This is the palace in Suramar from which the Grand Magistrix runs the city. He has brokered a deal with the Legion to allow them to use and corrupt the Pillar of Creation to create the Nightwell, a conduit of dark energy.

The layout and structure is somewhat reminiscent of Black Temple. You start in an underground catacomb, as you aren't able to enter the front gate. You work your way up to outdoor balconies, royal quarters, and then to the Nightwell itself, where you find the Grand Magistrix and Gul'dan.

Gul'dan is here as an ambassador the Legion. He can't run away this time!

This is not another green spike filled Orc raid, but a royal elven city.

Demon Hunter

There are many different horn styles to choose from, along with the option to have no horns.

Demon Hunters can also have tattoos, which will be shown off with the Demon Hunter class specific armor.

There are different skin variations. Some are scaly and demonic and some are more normal.

There are different types of eyewear as well. The Illidan style, a veil, or other blindfolds are available.

Demon Hunters are a Hero Class, meaning they have a unique starting experience, similar to what Death Knights got. They will also start at a very high level, allowing you to immediately flow into the Legion content.

The Demon Hunter is awoken in the Vault of the Wardens. The Wardens are desperate for their help when the Legion invades.

Before you do that, you will get to take part in the events that take place ten years back in time at the Black Temple. You, as a member of the Illidari, are sent off by Illidan on a crucial mission to the world of Mar'duun.

Demon Hunters only have two specs, as a healer didn't make sense and another DPS spec would water down the identity of the class.

The original honor system was fine in theory. Unfortunately, many players couldn't keep up and some would account share just to keep up.

The current honor system that uses currency is better. You earn currency and buy gear. It allowed for the creation of set bonuses to help tune PvP a little bit.

Gear being a huge factor in PvP doesn't feel good, so it is time to dial that back.

The new system is similar to a PvP talent system. As you gain honor, you progress through ranks from 1 to 50. Each rank gives you perks and bonuses, as well as unlocking PvP talents. The PvP talents allow the team to balance PvP more independently of PvE. These abilities will only work in battlegrounds and arenas. You unlock down a column and then start on the next one, so that you quickly unlock at least one option for each row, then further ranks give you more options to choose from. Everything is unlocked at rank 50.

Prestige Ranks - You can reset your honor rank and level it up again for Prestige Ranks that grant cosmetic rewards. This gives players that do a lot of PvP extra rewards that don't increase their power.

You can earn a badge for your unit frame's portrait that shows your Prestige rank, special mounts, and PvP only Artifact variants.

Screenshots

Concept Art

Legion in One Minute
If the recap is too long to read, Margaret has a quick recap of the expansion content we have seen so far!